Gunnlaugsson twins ride to ÍA's rescue
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Article summary
Twins Arnar and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson are the new player-coaches at ÍA Akranes and are confident that their talismanic presence can turn the club's season.
Article body
Relegation struggle
ÍA sacked coach Gudjón Thórdarsson after a 6-1 defeat at Breidablik on 20 July left them deep in relegation trouble just three days after their European defeat in Finland. The brothers were made fully-aware of the scale of their task as player-coaches on Sunday when their new team were beaten 5-2 at home by FH, a game which both sat out as part of the transfer agreement, but their arrival could be a good omen as in 2006 they arrived in a similar mid-season appointment and took the troubled side up to seventh place.
Fifth spell
Thórdarsson was then appointed and ÍA finished third last season. They are now second bottom, six points adrift of safety with nine games remaining. However, the 35-year-olds are firm favourites at the club, having begun their professional careers there in 1989 aged 16. Each have had four separate spells there before their current appointment, having also played together at Feyenoord, 1. FC Nurnberg and KR Reykjavík. Between 1995 and 2003 they went their separate ways, Arnar playing for FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, Bolton Wanderers FC, Leicester City FC, Stoke City FC and Dundee United FC while midfielder Bjarki represented SV Waldhof Mannheim, Molde FK, SK Brann and Preston North End FC, though they both were together in the Iceland national team, Arnar winning 32 caps and Bjarki 27.
'Difficult task'
Now there is a new challenge and as well as trying to keep ÍA's European campaign alive on Thursday, they know they have their work cut out to keep the 18-time champions from relegation. "Our dream is FH will be champions and IA stays in the top division," Arnar said. "This will be a difficult task but a challenge. We could not say no to our old club, even though we did not leave happily last time, as Akranes is our team. We will of course change some things so if the team do go down, they will do so with style but we have full confidence we will make it. The squad is good and can play football but confidence is shattered, there has been too much negative talk about the club. The youth section is doing well and even though it can be difficult to bring them on, it worked for us. In any case, the team is getting two fresh players."
